Why Not Stop Medicare Fraud Before It Happens?

Fraud is perhaps the most likely crime that the average citizen can become a victim of that can lead to significant distress. When somebody takes advantage of a Medicare policy, it hurts all of us. There are several different types of Medicare fraud, such as when Medicare is billed for a service that you never received, or for different services than the ones you received. It is also possible that somebody could use your identity to take advantage of your Medicare policy, or that your Medicare policy is billed for medical equipment that you are no longer using.

Report Fraud

In order to prevent Medicare fraud, it is important to report any case in which you fear that fraud may have been committed. If you get a payment notice from Medicare, look over it in order to ensure that everything is correct. It you suspect that you or your Medicare policy were billed for services that you did not receive, get in touch with Medicare immediately.

Don’t Give Away your Information

There are several other things that you can do in order to avoid the problem. For starters, never give away your Medicare Health Insurance Claim number, which can be found on your Medicare card. This information should only be given to a medical professional or a Medicare provider. In addition to this, you can help prevent Medicare fraud by ensuring that only medical professionals can get a hold of your medical records or recommend that you use a certain medical service. Never let anybody convince you to request a medical service that you do not need.

Be Suspicious of Bizarre Sounding Claims

If a Medicare service is presented to you as though it were free, make sure that you are careful and ensure that this is in fact the case. The same is true if you are offered any kind of free medical service in exchange for your Medicare information. If any provider claims that they have the endorsement of the Federal government or Medicare, be sure to verify this information. Be suspicious of anybody who says that a particular service is not typically covered by medicare, but that they know how to get Medicare to pay for it.